Air circulator and humidifier for radiators



May 29,- 1923. 1,456,6(17

v R. w. MENK -AIR CIRCULATOR AND HUMIDIFIER FOR RADIATORS Filed March 8, 1920 INVENTOR ATTYs.

Patented Wiley 29, W23.

uaTTan sT aTas TaTanT oT ica.

RUDOLPH W. MENK, OF JULIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE EXCELSIOR STEEL FURNACE COMPANY, OI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AIR CIRCULA'IOB AND HUMIDIFIEB FOB RADIATORS.

Application filed March a, 1920; Serial No. 368,961.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH W. MENK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Joliet, in the county of Will and State of 1111- nois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Air Circulators and Humidifiers for Radiators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to devices or ac- 1 cessories for radiators for steam, hot-water.

or vapor heating systems, and more particularly to What is known to the heating trade as a booster or apparatus for circulating the air around and through the coils of the radiator. In this connection, I have provided means whereby the air so circulated may be moistened or humidified so as to deliver the heated air to the apartment or room in a condition better suited to the health of the persons occupying the premises.

Among the objects of my invention is the provision *of a device of this character that is portable so that it can be readily inserted under or moved from the radiator, and may be easil cleaned or adjusted. Another object is t e provision of means for controlling p the velocit of the air circulated through the device an about the radiator coils, which structure permits of the use of a rheostat that is so positioned that the air being sucked into the device will pass through the rheostat and kee the same 1n a cool condition. The purpose of this latter object is to prevent the heating of the rheostat to an undesirably high temperature which would impair its operation, and set fire to the woodwork or furnishings of the room adjacent the radiator. Further objects are the provision of a structure of this character that is simple and attractive in design, novel in construction, economical to manufacture, and easy to use. I prefer to accomplish the diversobjects of my invention in substantially the manner hereinafter described, and as more particularly pointed out in the claim.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 -is a longitudinal view of the lower portion of a radiator showing a front elevation of my device for circulatin and humidifying the air in its relative osition.

Figure 2 is a top lan of my apparatus, detached or removed rom the radiator.

Figure 3 is a transverse section thereof taken on line 3-3, Figure 2.

In the drawings, similar reference characters have been employed to designate the same parts throughout the views, and by reference to Figure 2, it will be observed the apparatus, preferably, comprises a metal trough 5 of rectangular shape in plan view and of a length slightly less than the distance between the feet or legs 6, 6 of the radiator coils. This trough is open at the top and has vertical longitudinal side walls and transverse end walls, while the bottom 7 is inclined u wardly from its juncture with the end wa ls to a central wall 7 so that the ends and central ortion of its trough are deeper than the air inlet, hereinafter to be descr bed. This ermits the deeper portions of the trough be ow the air inlet to be supplied with a quantity of water for humidifying the air blown into the trough.

A suitable neck 8 of tubular shape extends forwardly from the central portion of the front side wall of the trough, and the walls of this neck converge outwardly so as to rovide a bell-shaped structure, as shown, and a suitable fan 9 is positioned in the outer opening of the neck for the purpose of forcing air into the latter and through the neck into the trough from which it circulates up between the coils of the radiator. The fan is driven by any suitable motor 10 of small horse power, and in order to control the speed of the motor, and thereby the velocity of the air circulated, I have provided a rheostat 11 that is interposed in the circuit which energizes the motor, and is, preferably, positioned contiguous to the motor and on the side thereof opposite to the fan. Thus, it will be seen that when the fan is rotated the air is drawn toward and through neck 8, and this air, which is usually cool, will pass through rheostat 11 and prevent the latter from overheating.

In order to prevent persons tam ering with the structure, and also to avoi accidents, I prefer to surround the rheostat, the motor and the structure for supporting these parts, with a cage 12 of suitable construction, preferably, of a mesh that will be sufficient to prevent children from inserting their hands or fingers through the interstices thereof and coming in contact with the motor or other adjacent parts of the apparatus, and also will prevent pieces of paper, rags and other foreign matter from becoming tangled in the motor. I have also provided a suitable bracket or yoke 13 that is a metal strap bent U-shape with the ends secured to the opposite sides of neck 8 and between and to which bracket the motor and rheostat are secured. If desired, a handle 14 may be mounted upon the upper segment or other convenient portion of the neck to facilitate the-removal or insertion of the apparatus under a radiator.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the cool air from the room is blown into the neck of the apparatus by means of the fan, the currents of cool air in transit to the fan passing through the rheostat to keep the latter cool. After the air has passed into the neck it will impinge upon the opposite Wall of trough 5 and the blast of air will be broken up into divers currents which will circulate above the water in the trough where it becomes moistened or humidified and then passes upwardly around and between the coils of the radlator to become heated.

What I claim as new is: i

- As an article of manufacture, a device for distributing and increasing the velocity of air to a heating radiator comprising a portable box-like structure having elongated side Walls one of which is vprovided with an aperture; said structure being open at its top,

a relatively short conduit fitting said aperture and discharging therethrough into said box-like structure, and means for forcing air through said conduit into said box-like structure.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 23rd day of February, 1920.

RUDOLPH W. MENK.

Witness:

E. K. LUNDY, Jr. 

